The March issue of The Atlantic features a story called, somewhat controversially, "How Your Cat Is Making You Crazy." I say "somewhat" because the title was obviously created to draw people into the story, but there is a chance, however small, that living with cats could cause schizophrenia and other problems, according to researcher Jaroslav Flegr.
The article is rather long (well worth reading, though) and starts out describing some rather fringe ideas in the scientific world about how Toxoplasma gondii, the parasite that causes toxoplasmosis, might affect humans. It goes through some scary hypotheses about how the parasite might cause thousands of car accidents every year (due to infected people's delayed reactions) and alter people's sociability and attractiveness.
As scary as mind-controlling parasites are, the author, Kathleen McAuliffe, concedes - near the end of the article - that simply owning cats won't make you crazy:
Indoor cats pose no threat ... because they don’t carry the parasite. As for outdoor cats, they shed the parasite for only three weeks of their life, typically when they’re young and have just begun hunting. During that brief period, [take] care to keep kitchen counters and tables wiped clean. ... Much more important for preventing exposure ... is to scrub vegetables thoroughly and avoid drinking water that has not been properly purified, especially in the developing world, where infection rates can reach 95 percent in some places. Also, [eat] meat on the well-done side—or, if that’s not to your taste, [freeze] it before cooking, to kill the cysts [which are caused by and can harbor the parasite].
So I'm content to keep my indoor, FIV+ cat, Gaston (pictured above), while keeping my sanity (well, as far as I can tell.) Does the article give you any cause for concern?
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Tags: Atlantic, The, cats, crazy, disease, health, parasites, schizophrenia, toxoplasmosis
© 2012 Created by Tristan.
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